Oxfordshire County Council looks to GIS to transform service delivery

The council is aiming to increase the number of digital tools it uses, based on location, to transform its service delivery while making savings in the cost of delivering those services.

The Council believes that, by utilising the location element at the heart of its Customer Engagement Strategy, it can increase citizen engagement and transactional services through new apps and services built on a new Oxfordshire Digital platform which includes Esri UK’s ArcGIS software.

“By using more agile and modern technologies we can genuinely transform the public’s access to better services and improve their quality of life, while reducing the cost to do so,” commented Anne Kearsley, Acting GIS Management Consultant, Oxfordshire County Council. “Furthermore, by halving the data processing time with the ArcGIS platform, we can become a more efficient and responsive digital team.”

A more time-efficient Council workforce will also be driven by access to new, interactive mobile technology. For example workers in the Communities teams will be able to receive new assignments on their mobiles. They can then report their progress and any findings, including photos, directly back to the office through a simple online form, without having to resort to pen and paper.

Public facing web apps will allow more citizens to engage with the council and access a wider range of services available in their locality, from recycling, to school catchment areas and transport services. Residents will also be able to report problems and track progress at a time of their choosing. These technologies with digital map-based tools will lead to a reduction in contact volume, driving further cost efficiencies while offering a better service to citizens.

“Location based data underpins a large number of services delivered by the public sector,” added David Downing, Local Government Manager, Esri UK. “Many local authorities and public bodies are now realising that understanding and utilising the concept of ‘location’ allows for better decision-making, at both a strategic and operational level. In turn, this delivers enhanced services for citizens and further cost savings.”
Esri UK was awarded a multi-year contract to provide a corporate GIS infrastructure to Oxfordshire County Council through the CCS LASA framework, using a competitive tender approach. Esri’s ArcGIS platform will replace a number of legacy GIS applications in the council, consolidating legacy mapping systems to a single GIS platform.